Dr. Nicolas Musi is director of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Dr. Nicolas Musi is director of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Photo: Courtesy Photo /UT Health Science Center

Americans will live longer by the year 2050

1 / 2

Back to Gallery

Americans will be living longer lives by the year 2050, experts say, though opinions in the scientific community vary on just how much longer.

“The average life expectancy in the U.S. currently is about 79 years ... Probably by the year 2050, the average life expectancy will increase to around 83 to 85” years, said Dr. Nicolas Musi, director of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. “And by the end of the century, probably closer to 87 to 89.”

Express Newsletters

Get the latest news, sports and food features sent directly to your inbox.

U.S. health care services have improved, Musi said. Cancer mortality rates have declined — so have mortality rates for cardiovascular disease. Fewer people are smoking, and better medical treatments are available, he said.

But if obesity and diabetes continue rising, that may slow projections of longer lives, Musi said.

In most of the world’s civilized countries, adults have an average lifespan of 75 to 85 years, said Dr. Marcel Daadi, director of the Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s Regenerative Medicine and Aging Scientific Unit. Advances in medicine and an increased focus on the biology of aging likely will provide more insight, he said.